1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to welding and in particular to a new and useful system and method of welding titanium tubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the power plant field, the manufacture of steam generators requires that the heat tubes are welded to a tube sheet. Although many different types of metals and alloys are used during plant construction, the use of titanium tubes welded to a titanium clad tube sheet has not been provided using fillet welds. When performing welding operations on titanium alloys, it is necessary to maintain an inert atmosphere because titanium oxidizes rapidly in the presence of oxygen at high temperatures.
Because of the rapid oxidation problem associated with welding titanium, presently, there is no known system for performing welding operations on titanium tubes and titanium tube sheets using fillet welds.